Family?
by 44454469
Summary: Spike attempts to teach Edward to shoot. They learn that they are more similar to each other than they originally thought. Spike-Ed bonding. Fluff.


"Ed. Hold it like this." Spike corrected the redheaded girl for the fifteenth-thousand-time already. Why did he choose to teach a girl like Radical Edward, gunmanship? She wasn't gun-ho, gun-toting Edward, she was Radical Edward. They're crazy and hyperactive child hacker. But, maybe this was leading up to his argument with Faye. _Stupid Faye_, Spike groaned as Ed missed the target again.

Unaware of Ed's expressions, the girl was apparently very disappointed when she missed the target. Spike had assumed she had missed on purpose. But no- Ed was trying, really she was.

"Spike-person, this is really hard." Ed piped sadly. "Ed's trying though." She wanted to try, she wanted to spend time with him and make him happy, for some reason. "Ok. Here Ed goes." Edward relaxed her position. Her mood had lessened dramatically, no longer was it so tense, and she was getting into a more serious cowgirl-to-cowboy-showdown like pose. Spike was slightly impressed.

Ed shot the bullet.

It missed.

Ed cried out. "No, I missed again, I'm sorry!"

Spike gave Ed a questionable look. "I'm sorry? Ed, since when did you stop talking in the first person? That's _so-not-you_." The older man teased and then crouched down to the teenage girl's side. She looked confused. "It's okay Ed, you screwed up, we can try again if you want."

"I-"Ed began, thinking about it. It wasn't here to please others, she always liked to be herself, her whacky, insane, eccentric-self. But she liked Spike.

_Spike-person. Spike-person_. She thought, over and over, that he never liked her because he thought she was an annoyance. "Ed doesn't want to learn to shoot. Ed doesn't like guns."

"Then why'd you ask me to teach you?"

Silence for a moment. Then Ed looked away from Spike.

"Ed wanted to be with Spike-person but Ed thought that Spike-person hated Ed."

Spike's mismatched eyes flickered rapidly, then, he looked down at his feet, away from the hacker's saddened expression. He hated that sad pout. "…I don't hate you Edward. You can be annoying as hell, but lots of people get on my nerves, it's not just you, Ed. Faye's like that to, I'm the closets with Jet, and even he gets on my nerves. Heck, even the woman I was in love with- we'd fight sometimes-"

"Spike-person had a girlfriend?"

Spike bit his lip. He didn't like to talk about Julia. Not even around Jet. Why the hell was he telling her this? "Yeah, lots of girlfriends, but, the best was a woman named Julia. I'm still trying to look for her."

"Ooooh! Love-triangle-thingymajig?" Ed cheered and hopped up and down, the damn brat, Spike scoffed inwardly, '_little brownnoser'_. Could be her new nickname, but then again Spike didn't blame her. Kids her age were naturally nosey.

"Ed… come on, hey, why don't I put the artillery away. I'll tell you some things about my girlfriends? Okay?" Spike trailed off as he looked at the gun in his hand, which had suffered from mild scuffs and dents over the years, but not too serious damage. "_Ed_?"

Ed continued to look at the targets which she had missed at. There were bullet holes in the walls. "Would Spike-person be happier if Ed learned to shoot?"

"No. Its fine if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you."

The softest smile appeared on Ed's face, and she wrapped her arms around Spike and into a big bear-hug. Spike winced suddenly, as he wasn't expecting it, but, then he shrugged and patted Edward on the head. "It's okay now... Hey Ed, can I ask _you_ something?"

Ed let go of Spike and her eyes flickered quizzically. "What question?"

"Whatever happened to your mother?"

"…Ed's mama…died a long time ago…Ed thinks."

Spike sighed. "Never mind, forget about it-"

"Ed knows everything, but, Ed doesn't know what happened to mama." The redhead hacker began to shake suddenly. It wasn't that she feared not knowing everything in the world, but not knowing about yourself was scarier. It was like a black hole in your heart. It was painful too. "Ed wants to know about mama, but father-person doesn't care…"

Spike blinked. He saw the girl suddenly go from questionable too fearful in a matter of seconds. He crouched down, wrapping his arms around the girl, rubbing her back, and making cooing noises. "It's okay Ed. You've got us now."

Ed sniffled. "Yeah… Ed's got the bebop. And Ein…."

Spike chuckled. "Yeah, and Ein, and Faye, and Jet and me… we're your family now. So don't worry. We'll always be here for you."

"Spike,"

"Hmm?"

"What was your mama like?"

Holding the girl close he paused. _What was his mom like_…? Spike thought hard and long, about his parents, his jackass father, how he would beat his mother, how he wouldn't be supportive of Spike's dreams. He didn't want to go into that. Not tonight. "My mom was a great mom. She loved me very much."

Ed sniffed. "Food!"

Spike laughed. "I think its bell peppers and beef, this time, with the beef. I can smell it!"

They let go of each other, and as they expected, Jet called from the hallway. "Dinner's ready, get it while it's hot!"

"Yay- yay- beef!"

Spike began walking towards the living area and as he sat down, Jet caught a glimpse of his smile. "Well you're in a good mood tonight? Did shooting practice go over well?"

Spike nodded. "Naw. Let's just say me and Ed know each other better than we think."

The hacker was oblivious to that comment but her and Ein were joyfully lapping up bell peppers and beef. Jet gave a questionable look but then shrugged, continuing to munch on his food. The three sat there. They were like a family. Out of all the chaos that happens every day- these are the peaceful moments that they can say- yeah. We _are_ like family.

**_Don't worry Ed. We'll always be here for you… _**

* * *

My first Bebop fan-fic, a little Spike-Ed bondage. Sorry if Spike's a bit OOC ^^;


End file.
